Which Online Dating Site Is Responsible for the Most Marriages?

When it comes to love, or more precisely the dating site(s) responsible for the number of successful e-dates that have turned into something more long term, eHarmony and Match.com have put on their boxing gloves.

We’ve all seen the eHarmony commercials, peppered with marketing claims of “most satisfied marriages” and “most enduring marriages.” (They feature the adorable little girl and founder Dr. Neil Clark Warren—remember now?) Well, for obvious reasons, Match.com has some issues with this. And their concern is not entirely off base.

The National Advertising Division (NAD), an independent body that looks into advertising claims as part of the industry’s self-regulation, found that the data eHarmony provided to support their assertions was not adequate.

“NAD was concerned that at least one reasonable—and in fact likely—message conveyed by eHarmony’s ‘#1 most marriages’ claim was that a higher total number of married couples met on eHarmony’s website than met on any other dating website,” the group said in a statement. “NAD determined that eHarmony’s survey evidence did not serve as a reasonable basis for that message.”

Also, it’s a little suspicious that two former employees conducted the study used to support eHarmony’s claims. To the company’s credit, they have acknowledged this and will no longer refer to the study as “independent” in future marketing.

In the battle of best matchmaker, NAD found Match.com and eHarmony to be pretty close in count when it came to the number of people who found their spouse through the sites.